Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire (Cork South Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank Ms Farrell for explaining the situation to the committee and outlining the case. I am in regular contact with a family where a daughter has a severe brain injury. It is not due to poor investment, but the family is dealing with a situation where it looks as though the funds that were made available for her will not be sufficient as she lives beyond her life expectancy. I can see the strain on the family, and the stress and concern, caused by knowing that the money there will not be sufficient to care for her for the rest of her life. This committee has had presentations from the Courts Service, much of it about the fund and its performance over an extended period, but the performance of the fund for 2007 to 2009 does not tell the story of the people who had to realise parts of their fund during that time, and the implications that had for the families.

I want to ask about two elements. We need to ensure that this situation is not repeated and that in future the court service manage the funds in a better and more transparent way, in co-operation with the families but I am conscious that we cannot go back and rectify what happened during that time. What remedies does Ms Farrell feel should be put in place? Would it involve some form of compensation? Ms Farrell referred to a judicial inquiry, but should we consider compensation or a specific package for those affected, or something else on those lines?

More generally on the matter of wards of court, the Law Society has raised the matter of it being difficult for wards of court to access civil legal aid in relation to wardship procedures in some circumstances. Will Ms Farrell comment on that?